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Just played to 400 or so Swedish Bluegrass fanatics at a festival by a lake. I’m taking the photo, not in it!

In Chipping Norton there's a "community piano" provided by the town council for the use of the general public. They even tune it from time to time and most of the keys work! This afternoon we used it to do a bit of busking as a means to promote the local jam session. A recording of Blue Bossa (a well-known jazz standard often used at jams) can be heard here. The public passing by seemed to like it; a few complements were received and around £19 and four cans of beer were dropped into one of the drummer's cases. A nearby bakery offered free pies/cakes which the pianist was pleased to accept. The only passer-by who appeared less than fully pleased was one who commented that we needed a guitar in the band (we don't agree).

I'm out at last. Mri was clear but still unsteady and probably will take a weekor two to recover. Had to bow out of three gigs with three bands this weekend but they have all been great about it. Gutted as was really looking forward to it

Did a 2-hour set last night with Ministry of Mojo as part of the Dereham Blues Festival. Really nice venue but very small and dwindling audience, which we just about outnumbered by the end. Unfortunately the venue is out of the town centre and blues fans clearly didn't fancy making the trip out to the suburbs. The office:

Just goes to show how much I know, I said to the wife, that's a Fender Jazz Marcus Miller bass, really nice bass but didn't really realise they were out in 1985. She said, it looked really new so maybe they'd just come out. Didn't realise it was actually Marcus Miller playing 😆

Jeff's health must come first but I really am absolutely gutted that tomorrow's concert has been cancelled. ELO have basically been my favourite band since Telephone Line came out. This was my last and only chance to see the man performing live. A mixture of personal circumstances, long term family illnesses and other things have always precluded us seeing ELO every other time they have toured since the comeback a decade ago. Doubly upsetting that it also means missing two more of my all time favourite artists, The Doobie Brothers and Steve Winwood - neither of whom I have ever seen before (for much the same reasons as ELO). At least I’ve managed to snag three decent enough tickets for the Doobies at their O2 gig next Saturday. Takes the sting off a bit… but only a bit. Get well soon Jeff and enjoy a well earned retirement. 😥

Great tone! Sits really nicely with that band/style of music! Si

When @fretmeister unleashes his new god-like bass tones, the congregation will bow down ready to give up their souls. In anticipation, waiting for the bass to drop, the words echo across the room.... "Let us PRay!" And it was good.

Sounds…. Just like a Stingray. For a lot lot lot lot lot less money. Aguilar pickup, OBP-2, 18volts. nice.

Its the 'Content I started' here

It's going to be a major disappointment to a lot of folks,but Jeff's health has to come first. Hope he gets well again soon......

Good news to hear you are home again and MRI was clear. Just a matter of time till you get 100% back to normal and gigging again. Take care. Dave

That's sounding pretty good especially considering your circumstances. I'd be ok with that. Used to love playing that song back in late 80's band. Lots of nice wee runs in it. Good luck with the drummer tonight and hope your own drummer is ok and gets well soon. Dave

It's been a while since I've been able to post in this topic, as our old guitarist opted out at the beginning of May. It's been cancellations, auditions and just a couple of rehearsals since then. I think we've got the right new guy. I was slightly nervous in the run up to last night's first gig, as we didn't manage to rehearse this week as our drummer has been taken into hospital for urgent surgery. He's going to be out of the game for a while. A good friend of ours is going to sit in on drums for a while when he can and I am meeting another drummer this evening, when we play another gig (and he's on drums). We're deviating from usual set to a degree, as our new guitarist has some songs he's pretty good at, so to get a set together, and to change things a bit (the old band was a bit of a museum, as we couldn't add new songs without a distinct lack of enthusiasm from one corner of the room). We've pulled the best set together of crowd pleasers that we can . There were a couple of hairy moments, but the punters didn't notice. The good news for us is that we are back doing it and enjoying it.

That’s a shame, especially as most blues fans now qualify for free bus rides (me included 😆).

When I'm bored, I do a new build. This is my latest. Poplar P-Bass body (i was inspired to use Poplar when I found out that the new Pino Stingrays would use this wood) Rothko and Frost Paisley Paper (over £33 for each sheet for the front and rear!!! Aaaagh!!) Custom wound pickup CTS pots Roasted flamed maple neck - i used white mother of pearl side dots to make them easier to see against the darkened maple when gigging. Nitrocellulose lacquer used on the body and the neck Lollipop tuners

In fairness, when the plans came out, LFSys didn't exist, and a Barefaced 1x12 with a bit more power handling would be about three times the price of putting one together. I really think that somebody should buy mine.